


To Be In Your Arms (Tonight)

by gaynewsies



Category: Boy Meets World
Genre: M/M, and he has glasses, cory is there to hug him, cory likes to read shakespeare, shawn hunter is Sad, shawn hunter is nonbinary its important to me that you know that, thats it, theres no purpose to this fic i was just in a mood, this is for toni and toni only
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:34:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25179274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaynewsies/pseuds/gaynewsies
Summary: Cory Matthews is just what Shawn Hunter needs.
Relationships: Shawn Hunter/Cory Matthews
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	To Be In Your Arms (Tonight)

**Author's Note:**

> for toni.  
> -  
> tw alcohol mention ! nothing intense or anything  
> i wrote this awhile idk i was projecting

Shawn Hunter had been drinking.

He wasn't _drunk_ or anything, just buzzed enough to put a wobble in his step and a goofy grin on his face.

He laughed to himself as he missed a foothold on the Matthews' backyard tree, the distance from the ground not fully processing in his fuzzy mind. He white knuckled the tree branches and clambered over to Cory Matthews' window.

 _Cory Matthews_. The name tasted sweet in his mouth. (Maybe it was that, or the three Jolly Ranchers he'd popped in his mouth before climbing up to the roof.) Shawn smiled at the thought, letting his mind wander for just a moment. His mouth puckered- green apple Jolly Ranchers and Cory Matthews were both sour.

(It wasn’t necessarily Cory Matthews that was sour, it was Cory Matthews and the fact that he wasn't Shawn’s.)

The golden glow of Cory's bedside lamp illuminated his side profile, his body tucked closely into his childhood bed. They were visiting home for winter break, and Cory had swiped Angela's book of sonnets. This was a rare sight, a rare version of Cory- the version that reads- reads _sonnets_ , and enjoys it. The one that reads the same verses, not once, but three times, to make sure he really understands it. The one with dorky glasses sitting low on the bridge of his nose that he’d push up with his ring finger whenever they slid down.

 _Cory Matthews. Cory Matthews, Cory Matthews, Cory Matthews._ _Cor-y Matt-hews_. Shawn whispered it, quietly, pausing between the syllables like he was reciting poetry. Cory Matthews was poetry.

Shawn knocked once, a hesitant, ghost touch, and three more times- louder, to the pattern of their secret password. They'd made it when they were nine; young, bright eyed, crooked toothed kids. Shawn laughed a little at the passing memory.

Cory Matthews’ head snapped up, eyes going big at the sight of Shawn, shivering in his old t-shirt and the December air. (December 23rd air, to be exact.) He hadn’t noticed he was cold until he saw Cory pull his Penbrook hoodie off the back of his desk chair and shove it at his chest once the window was pulled open.

“Jesus, Shawn.” He sighed.

“Hey, Cor.” Shawn grinned.

Shawn threw one leg over the window sill, and then the other, looking up at Cory with a smile that was happy and eyes that were sad. He pulled the hoodie over his head, getting tangled once or twice, chuckling. The sleeves were just too long, and he nervously pawed the extra fabric.

“What are you doin’ here, Shawny?” There was a tinge of disappointment in Cory’s voice, and the digital clock on his desk read 1:57 A.M., and suddenly Shawn felt like crying.

“I couldn’t just visit my best friend? My best buddy in the whole wide world?” Shawn’s eyes just missed Cory’s, looking at a particularly interesting spot between his eyebrows. When Cory tried to make eye contact, to really look at him, Shawn ran. (Metaphorically. It felt as if he was rooted to his seat, but his eyes would rather do anything than lock with Cory's.)

Cory grabbed the sides of Shawn’s face, but it felt awkward, too forced, and he moved a gentle finger to his chin.

“Shawn, what’s wrong?”

There was something in Cory’s voice, so genuine and concerned, that shattered Shawn’s aching heart. “My dad left. Dunno’ where ‘e went.” Tears pricked at the back of his eyes, and he felt dumb. He was overreacting, and Cory would laugh at him, and tell him to go back home. That’s what would happen, and Shawn would be alone again.

“But tomorrow’s Christmas Eve.”

“Oh, really?” And Shawn didn’t mean to snap at Cory, the boy holding his chin and looking at him like that, but it just came out. He cast his head down, twisting the ends of his sleeves as anxiety built up in his chest. It built, like mountains of all his worst fears, and any second they’d come crashing down.

“Oh, Shawn…”

That’s all it took. That was all it took for Shawn to break into tears, shoulders collapsing on himself. He cried hard enough he worried he’d wake up Cory’s family, sobs coming out as estranged wail-coughs. ( _How cute_ , he thought.) He tried to swallow it down, but his throat closed and his chest was tightening and all he could do was cry.

Cory didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Shawn, his best friend breaking to pieces in his arms. Sat next to him, Cory mumbled over himself, quiet nothings to calm the violent shaking of Shawn’s sob wracked body. Shawn cried into his chest. A kid on the edge.

“He left, Cory. He leaves. Always. And so does everybody else and there’s nothing I can do about it! I begged him to stay this time, Cory. I haven’t seen him in years. If my own Dad doesn’t love me enough to stay, what am I good for?” He hiccuped and sniffled and cried a little bit harder with each word that left his mouth. He laughed, bitter and resentful and sad. “What am I doing wrong, Cory? What’s wrong with me?”

 _God_ , all Cory wanted was to _shut him up_. To shut him up so he didn’t have to hear Shawn cry any harder and talk in his small, cracking voice, and break his heart any further. This was Shawn Hunter, the reason Cory smiles, crying into his chest because one man convinced him that’s all he was worth.

“Shawn, you listen to me, okay?” He pulled Shawn’s body off his chest, heavy and deadweight, and kept him up by the shoulders. The glimmer in his eyes was slowly dying, the pretty blue of his eyes looking more and more vague and… empty. “Everything about you is good. You’re a good person. Your- your art and your laugh and your loyalty, you’re _perfect_ , okay? You’re you, and I’m me, and you’re gonna be okay.” He gripped Shawn’s shoulders, tight and sure and headstrong.

Shawn wiped at his eyes. “That’s real nice of you, Cor, but-”

“No, Shawn. You’re not doing anything wrong, and I’m going to be by your side forever. _We’re gonna’ be buried together, Shawn_. I’m gonna’ love you enough for everybody that leaves you.”

“Cory-”

And Cory kissed him. It was desperate and fast, gone in the blink of an eye. Cory’s hands were on either side of his face, fingers trembling. “ _God_!” He exclaimed. “ _Shut up_!”

Shawn had stopped crying. And shaking, and maybe even breathing. He was purely Shawn, yellow from the light and soft brown hair falling into his wide eyes.

 _Fuck_. “Shawn,” Cory started.

He let out a small sound of surprise, muffled by Shawn kissing him again, back, and twice as sweetly. He tasted like Jolly Ranchers and tears and he was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> @MUSHMEYER on twitter ;D


End file.
